


What the Hex

by Hippomatrix



Category: Long Exposure (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, M/M, Wizarding World, gryffindor Mitch, hufflepuff Jonas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-02-22 07:24:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13162113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hippomatrix/pseuds/Hippomatrix
Summary: Mitch left Hogwarts when he was in his fourth year and Jonas was in his third. Now Jonas is in his seventh year and Mitch is back.





	1. Mitch Hecking Mueller

Jonas turned his head slowly, stomach roiling with trepidation. He didn't want the rumors to be true. His life would be so much easier without the harassment that would inevitably follow Mitch Mueller's return to Hogwarts.

But just one glance over at the Gryffindor table proved his classmates' speculations to be indisputably true. Jonas felt his fists clench anxiously beneath the table. He'd recognize that grin anywhere. Mitch was back, and his appearance had become much more intimidating since Jonas had last seen him. He'd gotten taller, long limbs loose and ungainly. His knuckles were beat up and bruised and Jonas couldn't help but picture himself being the target of Mitch's attacks. 

Mitch had never beat him up before, but Jonas wouldn't put it past him. Mitch had always been the unsavory type, disliked by his fellow students despite his pureblood lineage and powerful magic. Jonas had never known exactly how the Mueller family's bad reputation had started, but Mitch had certainly never done anything to dissuade his classmate's initial assumptions of him.

Mitch's head turned then and their eyes met. The older boy grinned menacingly and Jonas flinched back, quickly ducking his head and focusing his eyes on the empty plate in front of him, trying not to draw the attention of his fellow Hufflepuffs as he panicked. 

Jonas bit his lip. _Crap_ , he thought, _he saw me looking at him_. 

And now Jonas could feel Mitch's eyes boring into him, sizing him up. It was times like these that he wished he and Sidney had been sorted into the same house. Then maybe they could sit together and he could feel the comfort of knowing she was right by his side and willing to push him to stand up for himself.

He fidgeted nervously as the first years continued being sorted into their new houses. It all just sounded like background noise to his racing thoughts. He hadn't even prepared himself for the possibility of seeing Mitch again this year. His bully had already been absent for Jonas' fifth and sixth years, so hoping for that trend to continue hadn't seemed like too much of a stretch. Apparently it was.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

* * *

Jonas rushed into his second hour Muggle Studies class just as the door slammed shut behind him to signal that class was starting.

He skidded haphazardly to a halt, wincing as his hand-me-down sneakers scraped loudly against the floor. The teacher looked entirely unimpressed but thankfully made no comment.

"Sorry I'm late," Jonas stammered, cowering under his classmates' gaze as he looked over at the desks to locate an empty seat. The quicker he sat down the quicker the lesson could begin and the quicker everyone's eyes would turn their focus to the professor rather than him.

Jonas froze when his eyes met that familiar toothy grin which always signaled trouble. He frowned. Mitch was.... in the same year as Jonas?

Jonas groaned internally. Of course Mitch would be in his class. After being pulled out of school at the end of his fourth year, Mitch must've kept up with private lessons or a tutor of some sort. _Although he must not have done very well if he had to repeat a year_ , Jonas thought snarkily. The joke was on him, though, because that meant that now they were in the same year.

And of course the only open seat left in the classroom was the one next to Mitch, because the universe was determined to make Jonas' life miserable. And probably also because no one else in the class wanted to sit next to Mitch Mueller either. 

 _Great_ , just great.

Jonas trudged up the aisle to the empty seat and sank into it with reluctance. He could feel Mitch leering at him but refused to look up at Mitch's long face with its stupid scratchy looking scruff. This was his life now, he supposed. He'd just have to get used to it.

Jonas did his best to ignore the boy sitting next to him as the class began around them, focusing intently on taking notes and listening to the professor's lecture. This tactic of avoidance usually worked by making himself seem smaller and less of a target. He'd had a lot of practice using it around Dean. Jonas interacted as little as possible in the hopes that the people around him would loose interest or take the hint and leave him alone.

Mitch was not taking the hint. At all. If anything, Mitch was taking Jonas' guardedness as a challenge. An invitation, even. He'd draped his long arm over the back of Jonas' chair and had positioned his lanky body to loom over the smaller boy. Jonas felt very uncomfortable at the reminder of just how easily Mitch could crush him. It would take barely any effort at all on Mitch's part to physically overpower him.

To say that class could not end soon enough would have been an understatement.

He scrambled hastily out of his chair and bolted the second that class was over and they were dismissed. Jonas hadn't absorbed any of the lecture material at all but at the moment it seemed like the least of his concerns. He wasn't going to stick around for more torment and thinly veiled threatening glares. If he hurried he could make it to the banquet hall before Mitch could get the chance to corner him again.

He tried to mix in with the crowd of students already heading there and turned to take a rarely used corridor he hoped no one would think to check.

Just as he thought he'd found a safe secluded spot he found himself confronted yet again by Mitch hecking Mueller. Because yet again the universe was out to get him. He just couldn't seem to catch a break today.

Jonas froze like a deer in the headlights at Mitch's predatory grin, letting out a startled noise when Mitch's large hand grabbed his shoulder and shoved him roughly against the wall.

Mitch tilted his head and chuckled. Jonas would've been lying if he said that the sound didn't terrify him. "Well if it isn't my favorite little nerd."

Jonas shrunk back against the wall as Mitch leaned closer, caging him in with his arms.

"What're you runnin' for? Didn't you _miss_ me?" Mitch's face was so close now that Jonas could smell his cigarette scented breath.

"G-get away from me," he stuttered nervously.

Mitch only got closer, their chests almost touching. "Awww, c'mon spots, don't be like that!" He grinned wickedly. "I missed _you_."

A sudden authoritative voice called out, startling them both. "Mueller!"

Mitch turned to see who was calling him and Jonas took his chance to duck out from under his arms and make his escape. He made sure to be long gone before Mitch could get the chance to catch up again.

* * *

Thankfully Jonas didn't have any more classes with Gryffindores that day, and was able to avoid any more close encounters of the Mitch kind. He sat through two hours of Potions class nervously reflecting on all the harassment Mitch had subjected him to in the past and imagining how much worse it might be now that they were older and more skilled at magic.

He could think of quite a few hexes that he would not want to be on the receiving end of. It made a mental note to learn some counter-spells just in case he needed them.

"Jonas."

He looked over at Maddie distractedly as she continued to jab her finger at his arm. By the look on her face this wasn't the first time she'd said his name to get his attention.

She was probably going to tell him he was doing the assignment all wrong or something, and he could really do without an admonishment right now. She may have been one of his few close friends, but her stuck up attitude could be frustrating sometimes. She fit the know-it-all Ravenclaw stereotype to a T.

"Why does that Mueller guy pick on you so much?" she ask-whispered a little too loudly. "Like, more than everyone else, I mean?"

Jonas blinked, taken aback. He felt bad for expecting criticism when she really just seemed to be concerned. "I..." he curled his fingers around the smooth shape of his pen. "I have no idea," he answered honestly. "It's been like this since forever. He just hates me."

Jonas looked down at his desk and clenched his hands. But that wasn't really true, was it? Mitch hadn't always bullied him.

As a first year student still stumbling his way through living at Hogwarts he'd become friends with the prickly second year Mitch. For a while, at least. And then just when Jonas was starting to feel like they were getting close, Mitch had turned on him, shoved him away, shut him out. That's when the bullying had started, and Jonas had done his best to avoid Mitch after that.

Jonas hadn't realized he'd been lost in thought again until Maddie said something and brought his attention back to the resent. "Have you guys ever been in a fight?"

"Well," Jonas fiddled with his quill, thinking about it. "No. But I figure it's only a matter of time before he does something worse."

He frowned down at his notes. He didn't want to think about what 'something worse' might turn out to be.


	2. What rotten luck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyyyyyy what up y'all it's a new chapter!!!

Normally Jonas enjoyed Divination. Sure, it could get a little tedious at times, but he hadn't settled on this extracurricular by accident. He'd picked it because he knew that Carmen would be taking it. Beautiful, talented, amazing Carmen. And now, apparently, Mitch as well. What rotten luck.

And his luck only went downhill from there. He found himself stuck sitting with Mitch yet again and this time was even worse than the last. No longer satisfied with just hovering menacingly, Mitch was now actively bothering Jonas as well. Long pale fingers flicked about aimlessly, small tendrils of magic tugging at Jonas' dark curls. The tugging wasn't strong enough to hurt but it was definitely distracting.

Jonas might've even been impressed by Mitch's use of wand-less magic if it hadn't been for the sole purpose of annoying him.

But that's all it was. An annoyance. And he was sick of it. After a few minutes of patiently waiting for Mitch to get bored and just leave him alone, Jonas finally snapped.

"Stop it!" He hissed, swatting away Mitch's hand and glaring at the older boy. Hopefully no one had noticed; Jonas didn't like having attention drawn to himself.

Mitch's toothy smile widened as he leaned forward into Jonas' space. "Aw, c'mon Spots. Yer no fun anymore."

Jonas scoffed and looked away, staring resolutely at the crystal ball in front of him and refusing to look back and meet Mitch's heavy gaze. "Just leave me alone."

Jonas hunched in on himself, wanting to disappear. He felt like everyone's eyes were on him, watching him, judging him. He knew they probably weren't, that he was letting his anxiety get out of hand. No one was looking at them. They wanted to avoid Mitch's attention just as much as Jonas did. He didn't blame them.

Jonas was pulled abruptly from his thoughts a few minutes later when the crystal ball he'd been staring at suddenly went careening off the table, smashing destructively against the floor and sending an explosion of broken crystal shards flying all over the carpet. Several shrieks of surprise went up around the room as the other students reacted to the sudden and unexpected explosion.

They probably thought that Mitch had picked the crystal ball up and hurled it at the floor, but Jonas had been watching and Mitch's hands hadn't gone near it. Mitch had sent it flying without any physical force or even by using his wand.

Eyes wide, Jonas cautiously turned his head to glance over at Mitch, trying to figure out what had set the older boy off. He fought the urge to shrink back in fear when he saw the anger simmering there, Mitch's sharp features drawn into a scowl.

It was odd, though, because Mitch's expression seemed to change as he looked up from the shards of the ball and noticed Jonas watching him. It softened a little. If Jonas hadn't known better he might've thought that Mitch looked apologetic. But that made no sense. The crystal ball's destruction had clearly been Mitch's doing. How could that kind of magic possibly be used unintentionally?

Just how powerful _was_ Mitch?

"Detention," The professor barked. "Both of you."

Mitch's head jerked to glare at their teacher, his scowl returning full force as his anger resurfaced.

"And 10 points each from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff."

Jonas groaned, dropping his head to the table and covering it with his arms. He was done. So done. Honestly, what was even the point anymore?

He heard Mitch spew out a string of rather creative profanities as the older boy got up and stormed out the room, the door slamming loudly behind him.

"10 more points from Gryffindor."

Jonas shrunk further into himself. Had he wanted to disappear before? Because he definitely wanted to now. Yeah, now would be a great time to learn how to turn himself invisible.

* * *

So now Jonas and Mitch were here, wandering the castle grounds at night. By the Dark Forest. In the dark. All alone.

Jonas did not feel safe. He shouldn't be here. In fact, he shouldn't have been in detention at all. It wasn't _his_ fault that Mitch had gotten angry and destroyed school property. Stupid Mitch and his stupid wand-less magic.

"What're we supposed to be doin' out here again?"

Jonas sighed and slipped his hand into the pocket of his robe to check for the hundredth time that he had his wand in case anything happened. He knew there was no way he'd lost it in the last two minutes since he last checked but the incessant checking made him feel a little better. He liked the certainty of knowing it was there.

"We're finding a plant that grows along the edges of the Dark Forest."

"What's it do?" Mitch grinned and slung his arm around Jonas' shoulder, not noticing how tense the physical contact made the younger boy. Or maybe it amused him. Yeah, that was probably it.

Jonas fought the urge to shrug off Mitch's weight. Reacting to his teasing only ever made things worse, and as far as annoyances went this one was pretty tame. "I don't know. I think it's going to be used by the school nurse."

A howl cut through the night and Jonas shivered, hand automatically reaching into his pocket for his wand. Mitch tightened his grip and pulled Jonas closer, tucking the smaller boy under his arm. "What're you so scared of, Joey?" He grinned, tilting his head so that they were face to face. They were so close Jonas could feel the warmth of Mitch's rancid breath fanning out across his face. "Don't you know I'm the scariest thing out here? Ain't nothing gonna mess with me." He bared his teeth and growled.

Jonas blinked in surprise. Then he snorted, turning his head and trying not to laugh. He wasn't sure what was so funny, but all of a sudden he couldn't stop laughing. Because he _wasn't_ scared of Mitch. Not even a little bit. And that surprised him.

It was odd, but having Mitch's arm wrapped around his shoulders did make him feel safer. Mitch was lanky but his frame was sturdy, strong. The way his weight pressed against Jonas' side was reassuring.

When Jonas looked up Mitch was smirking down at him, but it wasn't menacing. It was just... Mitch. And all of a sudden he knew with certainty that Mitch didn't want to hurt him. Annoy him, yes. But hurt him? No.

Mitch grinned and turned his gaze away from Jonas, reaching into his pocket with his free hand and fishing out a cigarette.  He held it up and glared at it until a small spark lit the end for him.

Jonas looked at Mitch, eyes wide with curiosity. "How do you do that?"

Mitch smirked and placed the filter between his lips. "Do what?"

"That," Jonas said, gesturing to Mitch's lit cigarette. "Wand-less magic."

"Dunno," Mitch shrugged. He took a long drag and blew a thin stream of smoke into the chilly night air. "I've always been able to but it's gotten stronger the last few months."

"Why..." Jonas twisted his hands uncomfortably. "Why did you smash the crystal ball?"

"Shit, Joey," Mitch sighed and dragged his hand through his hair. "I wasn't trying to, alright? It just kinda happened."

"So you can't control your magic."

Mitch said nothing. He just looked down at his feet and took another long drag of his cigarette, filling his lungs with smoke. He shouldn't have even had cigarettes on campus. Jonas doubted they were allowed. But that wouldn't stop Mitch. Mitch didn't care about the rules. He just did what he wanted.

"Emotions," Jonas said after a few seconds of silence.

Mitch looked down at him in confusion, "What're ya talking about now?"

"Your magic," Jonas replied. "It's tied to your emotions. You got angry and your magic responded."

Mitch frowned. "So?"

"So," Jonas continued, "what you need to do is work on controlling how your emotions affect your magic."

Mitch's arm tensed around Jonas' shoulders. "Why do you care?"

Jonas looked up at Mitch and frowned. "Why wouldn't I care? We may not be friends, but you're still my classmate. And I'll feel a heck of a lot safer if I know you've got your magic under control."

Mitch's expression was hard to read. He turned his face away and tossed his half-smoked cigarette to the ground, stepping on it to put it out. Jonas watched Mitch's profile as the moonlight caught his face, softening the edges. "You offerin' to help me?"

"Sure," Jonas said, wincing at how unenthusiastic he sounded. "If you want. I need to work on my magic, too, so we might as well work together."

Mitch nodded. "Alright, Spots."

Jonas gave Mitch a half-hearted smile. Who knew, maybe things could be different this time around. Maybe they could be friends like they'd been that first year, before Mitch turned on him.

Jonas couldn't erase the past, but there was no reason for him not to try and move forward in the present. It seemed like there was a good chance that whatever had been going on between them could be fixed. And Jonas was willing to give it a try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't smoke kids


End file.
